So I’m reading Girls Read Comics (And They’re Pissed). And it’s good. Well thought out, and not once have I been accused of being inferior on the basis of my gender. I’ve not read a whole lot of the archives yet, but so far I recommend checking it out.

But…

So here I am thinking about what Karen Healey would think of my comics. Now, there’s a lot of women in my comics. None of them are that simple “sex object” so prevalent in society. But if you look at what I’ve done so far, you start to notice things. Like Amy or Morgin in various states of undress, independent of the plot of the scene. I could go on and on with reason after reason of proof that my comics are misogynistic. But at the end of the day, I write and draw what I like. I think it’s the only way to do any sort of creative project, especially one that will take the better part of a decade to complete. You’re going to be spending a lot of time on this, so you’d better like it, right? (It also guarantees that you have a mutual interest with any fans you have.) And likewise, I write my comics to be compelling to me. Let’s take page 24 of SEP. One could easily argue that I’m setting Amy up as a weak person. Now, if you read the pages leading up to it, you’ll see that she was having a fairly traumatic dream. What hasn’t been mentioned, but will if I ever get around to the next page, is that she’s been living on the streets for weeks, possibly months, and that she has similar dreams nightly. But justifying it within the story isn’t the same as justifying the way I wrote and drew it, right? Well, we’re brought back to my point. When I look at her, I feel bad for her. I empathize, and I want to do what I can to help her, and that’s the reaction I wanted. Not everyone will react the same way to the scene, of course, but that’s what I was going for, and it works for me. The same is true of all the partial nudity. I can give you a convincing reason as to why Jenn and Amy were sleeping nude (or just topless, we don’t really see and I neither know or plan to tell), and I can tell you how and why it fits into the overall plot, and it does, but the bottom line is that I’m a straight man, and I like the way the female body looks. No misogynist conspiracy, I’m just drawing what I like. (This is also why I draw women in loose jeans and t-shirts. I find that more attractive than spandex-clad G-cup pinups.)

And remember Rule Number One: If you find some hidden meaning in my comics, odds are I wasn’t the one who put it there. I’m just trying to tell a good story, and I’ve neither the patience nor the desire to dilute that down with various metaphors and such.

Also good to remember is Rule Number Two: Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but that doesn’t give you carte blanche to say anything without thinking beforehand. (Oh yeah, I’ve got high hopes for the comments on this one…)

For those who are curious, Rule Number Three is to stand proud and tall, get up there and dance like an idiot. (AKA, have a sense of humor about things.)